Mayor of Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti, announced his plans along with city officials to make a substantial cut of $100 million-$150 million to the LAPD’s budget in order to reinvest these funds into “Black communities and communities of color.” During a press conference on Wednesday (June 3rd) evening, Mayor Garcetti insisted that, amid the nationwide protests against police brutality and racial injustice in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, this was an “urgent moment” and “an inflection point” for the city of Los Angeles. However, he is “committed to making this moment not just a moment.”
“It is time to move our rhetoric towards action to end racism in our city,” he continued. “Prejudice can never be part of police work…It takes bravery to save lives, too.” He then revealed that, contrary to his prior plans, the city would no longer be increasing the police budget from $1.189 billion to the proposed amount of $1.8 billion; instead, he will be cutting between $100 million-$150 million from the LAPD’s budget and a total of $250 million from the city’s overall budget, to be used instead to “reinvest in black communities and communities of color.” He specifically outlined an investment in education, health, and jobs within the city’s Black communities. “We need to make sure that black Americans see an end to the days of murder in broad daylight and of traffic stops simply because of the color of their skin,” he said.
